The Tiger Temple Becomes a Zoo

Today the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi is one of the most popular of visitor attractions for visitors to Bangkok. Just a couple of hours from the city it now forms a part of many different tours. In fact there are visitors to Thailand who come especially to see the Tiger Temple.

One could very easily believe that the Temples tradition of rearing and living with tigers is a long established humane pursuit. It isn't though. The temple has only been involved with tigers since 1999.

At this time two orphaned tigers, probably taken from a poached mother, were handed in to the temple. The monks decided to rear them. Very quickly it was noted that the tigers stimulated an interest in visitors. Visitors were also prepared to pay to touch the tigers and have their photographs taken with them. Commercial greed reared its ugly head. Far from needing money to pay for a couple of tigers, more tigers were purchased illegally. There was trade in tigers against international law. They also started breeding tigers, pulling the cubs from their mothers and rearing them on pig milk.

There was talk of course of 'conservation' which the people involved do not have an inkling of understanding about and of 'saving' the tigers which is just as laughable. The tigers were neither being conserved nor saved. It was even suggested that they would be returning tigers to the wild. This is a specialist job and could not be done with semi humanised tigers of unknown parentage and besides the tigers already in the wild were already in enough problems without having their territory encroached on by other animals.

Visitors to the tiger temple only see the tip of the iceberg and can be forgiven in believing that they are seeing something wonderful. The 'Lion lays down with the Lamb' but in this case the monk with the tiger. Visitors can be forgiven in getting a kick out of being so close to a big cat.

Lions or Tigers having been hand reared are always going to be that little bit tamer than a mother reared animal but they are not 100% safe. They are not domesticated. They are wild animals. There is an ever present risk that at some point someone is going to get killed.

Volunteers who have worked at the temple talk of the tigers being drugged, of being beaten and of being illegally traded.

The International Tiger Coalition wrote an article to the Thai Government in 2008 outlining their fears and hopes. The reply they received said the Tigers were now the property of the Government but cared for by the Monks whilst a decision was made on their future.

In August 2009 the Tiger Temple was given permission to operate as a zoo. This means that they now have virtual free rein to continue with their crimes.

The Tiger Temple Becomes a Zoo

Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua or sometime called the Tiger Temper is a Theravada Buddhist forest temple located in the Saiyok district of Thailand's Kanchanaburi province. Found in 1994, this forest temple has been seen as a sanctuary for many endangered animals including several tigers. The temple received the first tiger cub in 1999 and as of 2009 the total number of tigers here was 50. These tigers are tamed by being fed with cooked meal in order to keep them far away from a taste of blood. They are also treated as family members in the temple and visitors who want to take photos with them are asked to give a donation.

If you choose Andalusia and Costa del Sol as your holiday destination, make sure that you don’t miss the Fuengirola Zoo. The zoo patiently waits for its visitors in the center of the town, where the employers have beautifully managed to recreate the natural habitat of hundreds of endangered species.

When you are visiting Washington DC you should not forget to visit the National Zoo of Washington along with your family. The National Zoo is one of the most exquisite places in the world where you can find a wide range of the wild life. It contains species that are very rare and even near extinct in the world.

Different stickers are pasted and tags so on. You will find lion stickers, monkey stickers, colorful stickers of zebras, etc. Snakes, birds, and scorpions stickers are also pasted on the walls of the zoos.

Zoos are exciting worlds of adventure offering a wide variety of exotic and animals for enjoyment and education. There are many world's zoos which are recognised for their comprehensive collection of species and animals including exotic and endangered animals, environment conservation and education programs.

"We Bought a Zoo" is a comedy movie directed by Cameron Crowe starring Matt Damon, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Scarlett Johansson, Desi Lydic, Patrick Fugit, and Elle Fanning. The film is based on a true story, a windowed father named Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) spent his life savings to buy a dilapidated zoo, replete with 200 exotic animals facing destruction, in the English countryside. Facing enormous difficulties, he and his children, along with a small but loyal staff, work to get the zoo re-opened. "We Bought a Zoo" was released on December 23, 2011 and debuted with $3 million on the first day.